


Yoon Dowoon's Comprehensive Guide to Holiday Romance

by everywinter



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 15:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17144579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everywinter/pseuds/everywinter
Summary: It's their first Christmas together and Dowoon's determined to make it special.Unrepentant OT5 fluff.





	Yoon Dowoon's Comprehensive Guide to Holiday Romance

“So, I’m staying in town for Christmas.”

 

Dowoon freezes with his cup halfway to his mouth and Jae startles so badly he spits his drink all over Sungjin.

 

“ _Jae_ , what the actual fuck!” Sungjin shoves away from the couch, Wonpil laughing hysterically beside him, and rushes to pull off his wet t-shirt.

 

“Sorry!” Jae wipes his mouth on the back of his sweatshirt, still coughing a little. “But did no one else hear the bomb that Kang just dropped on us? Why aren’t you going home?”

 

Brian shrugs and pops another piece of popcorn into his mouth. “My parents are going on their second honeymoon over the holidays and it just doesn’t really matter where I spend it if that’s the case. I have friends here and in Toronto, but I don’t want to impose on anyone else’s family either way.”

 

“You could come home with me.” Wonpil offers, “You know my mom loves you.”

 

“My parents like you too.” Jae adds.

 

“You could probably come home with any of us,” Dowoon glances at Sungjin as he speaks and he nods. “I really don’t want you to spend the holidays alone.”

 

Brian shakes his head. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t say we’re exactly inconspicuous, and I don’t think any of us are really ready for the ‘hey, this is one of my four boyfriends’ conversation with family yet.”

 

Dowoon reaches out and squeezes Brian’s shoulder, lets him put his cheek against his hand. They’d all been friends for years before they morphed into BrianandJaeandWonpilandSungjinandDowoon earlier this year and even though their dynamic is well established, the added element is still quite new. They’ve been open about the change in their relationships to their friends, but family is… family. And Brian’s always been very close to his parents, even with the distance between them.

 

Sungjin and Jae share a silent look from the other couch and Sungjin closes the distance between the two of them, presses their legs together. The movie plays in the background and Dowoon wraps an arm around Brian, he and Wonpil hold hands over top of him. Wonpil presses himself closer to Brian’s other side, looks up at him with big, sad eyes, kisses the strip of skin between his hoodie and his neck.

 

The movie plays in the background, but it doesn’t hold Dowoon’s attention. He starts planning.

 

The next morning, Jae’s standing at the kitchen counter, furiously stirring a bowl of pancake mix, Wonpil carefully flipping the ones already in the pan when they try and speak at the same time.

 

“I’m staying for Christmas too.”

 

“My mom says she doesn’t mind if I stay in town for Christmas this year.”

 

The two of them spin to look at each other and immediately start to playfully bicker about who had the idea first. Sungjin smirks at Dowoon over his cup of coffee, rolls his eyes. Dowoon smothers his laugh.

 

“I’m actually planning on staying too.” He admits, gently kicking Brian when he turns to gawp at him instead. “I’d never let you spend Christmas alone.”

 

“Good thing I told my parents I wasn’t going back or I’d probably come home to the whole complex burned down.” Sungjin says around a mouthful of fruit.

 

Brian looks a little overwhelmed. “Guys, you really didn’t have to, Christmas doesn’t mean all that much to me anyway. I’ll be perfectly fine by myself.”

 

“It’s too late; I’ve already told my parents I wouldn’t be going home.” Dowoon accepts his pancakes from Jae, along with a kiss. “You wouldn’t want to turn me into a liar, would you?”

 

“Corrupting our youngest, Bribri?” Dowoon groans as Jae pulls against him, squishes his face into his chest dramatically. “He’s the only pure thing we have left in this world!”

 

“Weird that you’d say that, considering you know very well that it isn’t true.” He gets a mouthful of Jae’s t-shirt when he tries to move away. “Hyung, come on, it’s too early in the morning for this.”

 

“I bring you pancakes, and this is the thanks I get?”

 

Dowoon rolls his eyes and tilts his head up to give Jae a kiss. He tastes like coffee and toothpaste.

 

He hears Sungjin groan, “Come on, guys, first thing in the morning?”

 

Dowoon pulls away with a big grin. “Feeling lonely?”

 

“I know a solution for that.” Brian says before leaning in towards Sungjin with a smile.

 

“If anyone should be complaining, it’s me.” Wonpil says, bringing the rest of the pancakes over. “I wake up early, slave away over our breakfast, and everyone else gets kisses but me?”

 

“You absolutely didn’t wake up early, _I_ did all this! You just came in at the last second, flipped a couple pancakes, and took all the credit!” Jae protests, batting away Wonpil’s smacks. One lands too close to Jae’s face, he ends up with a finger up his nose, and he’s wrestling to dig his fingers into a cackling Wonpil’s sides.

 

Sungjin heaves a deep sigh and presses his face against the kitchen table. “I don’t know why I got myself involved with you weirdos. I’m never going to have a day of peace again.”

 

Dowoon leans over and puts his face right next to Sungjin’s. He’s all long lashes and half-hooded eyes and when Dowoon brushes his nose against his, his eyes light up with his smile and it makes something warm and sweet rush through Dowoon’s chest.

 

He catches Brian’s eye over Sungjin’s shoulder. As sleepy as he looks, Brian has this soft look on his face and he even looks a little teary.

 

Dowoon’s determined to make their first Christmas special if not absolutely perfect.

 

* * *

 

 

Dowoon’s perfect Christmas plans start with decorating. He’s always been a simple man, he owns four of the same white t-shirt because they fit and they’re comfortable, but he spends the night before scouring the internet for inspiration. Pinterest isn’t super helpful, he’s never been especially crafty and some of that shit looks _complicated_ , so he sneaks out to the dollar store after work and picks up everything and anything that looks Christmas-y and probably won’t offend Sungjin’s sensibilities.

 

He wakes up the next morning, unwraps Wonpil from around him, and rubs his eyes as he takes the decorations out from between the towels in the linen closet as quietly as he can. He’s still half-asleep and keeps bumping into things, but when he freezes and listens, Dowoon can still hear gentle breathing from the bedroom. Considering it’s still dark inside the apartment, he doesn’t want to turn on the lights and risk alerting the others, and Dowoon doesn’t really have an eye for decorating, it goes pretty well. He opted to keep it simple, putting tinsel along the windows and stringing a couple lights across the ceiling. The crown jewel of his haul is a stuffed penguin with a little bell attached to its tail that sings and dances when you press the button on its hand.

 

The Christmas tree is what thwarts him. There isn’t enough room in their apartment for a real tree, but he’d managed to find a six foot cardboard tree. He starts at the top, but the adhesive that the tree comes with is awful and when he gets down to the bottom, the rest of the tree flops down on top of him and it startles him so badly, Dowoon almost falls backwards from his squatting position.

 

“Woah, gotcha!” Strong hands grab him by the biceps and set him upright again. Jae’s crouched down next to him, still blinking the sleep from his eyes. “What are you doing up so early, and why is it so dark in here?”

 

“Decorating. I wanted to get everything done by the time you guys woke up, but obviously that didn’t happen.” He pokes at the tree and tries his best to keep from pouting.

 

“Huh. It looks really good already, actually.” Jae says, admiring the tinsel. “Easier with two, right?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

The disappointment must still show on his face, because Jae puts a hand on his shoulder, pokes him on the cheek. “Don’t be like that, we can still finish before the others wake up. You know how late Sungjin sleeps and when I got out of bed, Brian was still wrapped around Wonpil and you know how the cuddle monsters get. I bet we still have another hour and a half before they come crawling out here.”

 

Dowoon bites his lip. “You think?”

 

“I know.” Jae stands up, his hair looks like a bomb went off next to him, and pulls Dowoon upright too. “Alright, letsgetit.”

 

They mostly decorate in comfortable silence, because they rile each other up too much and Dowoon just knows that once they get started, they’re going to end up laughing so loudly that it’ll wake the others. Jae holds the top of the tree to the wall while he meticulously tapes the rest of it up. Jae reaches up to paste the glittering golden star on top, then wraps his arms around Dowoon’s waist and puts his chin on his shoulder as he watches Dowoon secure the last of the tinsel around the tree.

 

“Isn’t it a little plain?” He can feel Jae’s voice reverberating through where his chest is pressed against his back. “We’re not going to do ornaments?”

 

Dowoon leans back, wraps his arms around Jae’s. “I thought we could all do that together. I still have craft supplies from when I did ‘Little Drummer Boy’ with the kids.”

 

“As long as we’re not doing glitter again.” Jae says against his neck. “Genuinely the herpes of the craft world.”

 

Dowoon presses his lips together to keep from laughing too loudly. “I’m not using glitter. I don’t control Wonpil though.”

 

“Nobody controls Pillie.” Jae kisses his temple.

 

“I wanna wait for everyone else to wake up before we turn the lights on, but now I’m a little worried that they won’t work.”

 

“We did all the work, we should have a perk of some sort.”

 

The sun’s only just starting to tinge the sky a deep navy blue, so when Dowoon flips on the switch, it looks pretty magical. Jae pulls him to the couch and Dowoon pulls the soft grey blanket around the two of them. The twinkling lights alternate and cast pretty shapes against the wall, and maybe Jae went a little crazy with the tinsel on the top half of the tree, but it makes him feel warm and happy. Jae’s playing with his hair and he did wake up pretty early that morning, so it’s easy for him to let sleep pull him under again.

 

Wonpil pouts horribly that he didn’t get to help, but they all admit that it looks amazing and praise Dowoon until he’s red from top to bottom. The ornament making is pretty much the epitome of chaos, and Jae actually screams and falls to the floor when Wonpil knocks over a vial of gold glitter, but when everything’s taped onto the tree it makes their apartment feel even more like home.

 

* * *

 

Next comes presents. Dowoon’s never been very good at buying presents, often defaulting to doing a joint gift with one of his friends, but he really wants to get something special for everyone. There’s no point in buying four of the same item of clothing, because it’s pretty much a free for all among all their closets anyway. He scours the internet for the perfect gifts. He wants it to be something that matches, but isn’t exactly the same. Most importantly, it has to be a surprise.

 

Honestly, Dowoon doesn’t even know where to start though, so he decides the mall’s probably his safest bet. He can just wander around, and hopefully something will catch his eye.

 

He grabs his jacket off the coat rack. “I’m going to the mall, does anyone need me to get anything?”

 

“I could go for a drive, I’ll come with.”

 

Dowoon fights the urge to groan when Sungjin stands up from the couch to follow him out of the apartment. Of course he’s happy that Sungjin wants to spend alone time together, but this just makes his secret mission even more difficult. They crawl into the car together and after Sungjin passes him the AUX chord, he takes Dowoon’s hand and twines their fingers together, brings his hand up for a kiss, and off they go.

 

Thankfully, the mall isn’t very busy but it’s _incredibly_ hard to secretly shop for someone when they’re less than three feet away from you at any given time.

 

“Alright, what’s wrong?” Sungjin’s peering at him from under the brim of his cap. “You’ve been acting cagier than usual since we got here. I thought you’d prefer to have someone come shopping with you, I know how you feel about being alone in a crowd.”

 

“I just had a lot of shopping to do today and I didn’t want to bore you.”

 

Sungjin reaches out and pulls one of Dowoon’s ears. “Liar.”

 

“I’m trying to buy Christmas presents.” Dowoon admits, giving his neck a sheepish scratch. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

 

“Do you want some help? I don’t wanna say you’re bad at choosing gifts, but…”

 

“I’m bad at picking gifts.” Dowoon confirms, “I really wanted yours to be a surprise too though!”

 

“Well, I can help you pick everyone else’s, then I’ll leave and we can meet up in an another half hour while you go find mine.” The guilt must show on his face, because Sungjin takes Dowoon’s hand in his own and gives him a firm squeeze. “I will love anything you give me, you know that. I still wear those bear pajamas you bought me for my last birthday.”

 

“I keep telling you that you don’t have to.” Dowoon groans, putting his face in his other hand. “I just thought it was cute, I didn’t realize they were a full onesie!”

 

“It’s all good, they’re comfortable. What kind of thing were you thinking?”

 

“I want something that’ll connect all of us. Not necessarily matching, just…”

 

Sungjin nods and leads Dowoon towards one of the smaller jewellery stores. “This is probably a good bet. Maybe you can pick different pieces made by the same designer?”

 

“Maybe…” Dowoon’s already caught up in looking at all the pieces under the bright lights in the display cases. Everything in the store’s unisex, separated by style rather than gender, and Dowoon wanders over to a collection featuring black enamel. There’s pieces in gold, silver, and rose gold, but they’re all simple and cohesive in style.

 

“Hey,” Sungjin puts a hand on his shoulder in apology when Dowoon jumps at the sound of his voice. “those are a good pick. Do you still need help narrowing it down, or can I maybe meet you in a little bit?”

 

“I think I’ll be okay.” He turns and presses his cheek to Sungjin’s hand before turning back to the display case. “I’ll text you when I’m done.”

 

He decides on silver for everyone. A ring for Jae, a little bracelet for Wonpil, a pretty pair of earrings for Brian, and a necklace for Sungjin. Along with the additions of black enamel, there’s the delicate engraving of an abstract shape that runs throughout. He knows it’s probably meant to be a leaf, but it makes him think of the lemon cookies that Wonpil made for his birthday last year.

 

The bill makes him wince a little, but he thinks about the glitter of silver against Brian’s skin, the way the thin chains will look looped around Wonpil’s wrist, the loop of metal around Jae’s long finger, and the necklace skimming Sungjin’s collarbones and he knows that it’s worth it. Dowoon’s never considered himself the possessive sort, but the idea of them wearing something from him makes him preen.

 

He puts the bag into his backpack and sends Sungjin a text that he’s finished with a grin.

 

* * *

 

 

Step three, maybe the most important step of all, is the perfect holiday date. What could be more romantic than skating? Dowoon tells everyone to keep the next Saturday clear and spends the night before carefully setting out mittens, thick socks, scarves, and hats for everyone. He pours boiling water into the thermoses in preparation for the next day, and crawls into the bed next to his lovers. He curls up next to Brian as he sleepily throws a heavy arm over his chest and pulls him close. Wonpil wiggles up behind him and promptly falls asleep, face pressed against Dowoon’s back. Sungjin’s on the other edge of the two king sized beds that they’ve shoved together and Jae’s holding one of Sungjin’s wrists, mouth wide open as he sleeps.

 

It feels right.

 

It isn’t until they get to the lake, pay for their skate rentals and have pulled all their equipment on that it occurs to Dowoon that this may have been an absolutely horrible idea. He hasn’t skated since he was 10 and he’s only gotten worse. Dowoon barely makes it down the stairs onto the ice before his arms are pin-wheeling through the air and he lands flat on his ass. 

 

Brian’s skates send flakes of snow flying through the air when he comes to a stop beside Dowoon. “Are you okay? Do you know how to get up?”

 

“Of course I know how to get up, I’m not an idiot.”

 

Brian holds his hands up in surrender but doesn’t skate away. “I’m just making sure!”

 

The second he tries to get back onto his feet, Dowoon understands why Brian’s still hovering. It sounds so stupid, but the ice is slipperier than expected and he just can’t get his feet under him properly and he ends up with a bruised knee in addition to his bruised butt.

 

“Here, get up on your knees, put one leg up like this, and use that leg to push yourself upright again.” Brian sits down next to him and demonstrates. He isn’t laughing, but Dowoon can see the glitter of mirth in his eyes.

 

When Dowoon gets back up, he tries to push off and immediately loses his balance again. Thankfully Brian catches him in time.

 

This time, Brian does laugh. “Why did you pick this if you can’t even skate?”

 

“It’s romantic!” Dowoon insists, “It’s in all the holiday songs and movies, and I just thought it would be fun.”

 

A couple feet away, Jae has Wonpil’s forearms in a death grip as the former skates backwards, slowly pulling him along the ice. Sungjin’s watching the two of them with a big smile on his face, black toque pulled down low on his forehead.

 

“Come on, I’ll teach you.” Brian’s hands are firm against his wrists. “It’ll be fun.”

 

Dowoon doesn’t really learn, but Brian puts his hands on his shoulders and pretty much ends up dragging Dowoon smoothly along the ice. “Just follow the way my skates move.” He calls back, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

 

He follows Brian’s movements and the two of them make big, easy loops around the lake. The cold air whips against his face and he can hear Brian humming something upbeat and sweet. They skate past the other three and Dowoon lets out a wild burst of laughter when he sees that Jae’s draped all six feet of himself over Wonpil’s shoulders and is slowly dragging him down as he protests and yells for Sungjin to help him.

 

Brian throws Dowoon a smile over his shoulder as he slows down next to them. His cheeks are red from the cold and the sunlight makes his skin glow warm against the white snow. “Super romantic, eh?”

 

“I can’t do anything nice for you people.” Dowoon sighs.

 

The five of them stay until nightfall, all squished together on two benches situated around the firepit in the middle of the lake. Dowoon passes around thermoses of apple cider and the steam tickles his nose as he takes mouthfuls that warm him from the inside out. Brian’s breath is warm against his skin when he whispers into Dowoon’s ear, jokes about Wonpil and Jae they bicker and flirt in the same breath. Sungjin’s warm against his other side. Brian’s lips are hot when they brush over Dowoon’s cheek and when he warps his scarf tighter against his neck, ruffles his hair under his hat, Dowoon feels a bone-deep contentment settle over him.

 

He and Brian walk hand in hand back to their car and Dowoon swears he can feel the warmth from Brian’s hands even through their mittens.

 

* * *

 

 

The last step is the perfect Christmas Eve dinner. Dowoon shoos everyone out of the apartment after lunch, insisting that he wants to do everything himself. He plans for a lobster mac n’ cheese, sliders, spicy tofu stew, and homemade ice cream for after. He isn’t even half an hour into cooking when the panic starts to creep up his spine. He doesn’t know how to make ice cream. It’s way too much for one person to do, and he’d really wanted to do mixed drinks too. Dowoon’s never going to be able to finish Christmas Eve dinner on time and he’s ruined Christmas.

 

He’s stirring the pot of cheese sauce over the stovetop, trying his best to keep calm as he reads over the increasingly complicated instructions when the front door unlocks and Wonpil calls out that he’s home.

 

Dowoon drops the wooden spoon into the sauce and sprints over to the door, taking the bags from Wonpil’s hands while he takes off his shoes. “What are you doing here? I told you guys to stay out all day!”

 

Wonpil rolls his eyes and rolls up his shirt-sleeves. “Yeah, I know, but I knew you wouldn’t be able to make everything on your own. I saw all the groceries you pulled out of the car. Tell me what you’re planning.”

 

He rattles everything off the top of his head and the more he speaks, the deeper the crease in Wonpil’s brow becomes.

 

“Dowoon, that’s insane.” He says bluntly. “We can do the mac n’ cheese, I can see you’ve already started, but we’re not doing soup, or the homemade desserts, that’s just too much. I’ll get the hyungs to grab soup before they come home, rice pretty much cooks itself, and I’ll ask them to get something sweet for after as well.”

 

“What about the drinks?”

 

“It’ll keep them occupied while we finish up. I hate having to pretend not to notice when Brian sticks his fingers into everything because can’t help but want to eat everything in sight.” Wonpil waves away his concerns. “Now, come over here, keep stirring before the cheese gets burnt.”

 

Honestly, he’d just panicked earlier, and Wonpil’s simple instructions make everything go smoother. Wonpil sings along to the Christmas songs on the radio and, even though Dowoon hates the sound of his own voice, he finds himself singing along. Wonpil’s voice is pretty and high where his is slightly out of tune, deeper, and they get increasingly sillier as the smell of cooking starts to permeate the apartment.

 

Everyone comes bursting in just as they put the mac n’ cheese into the oven to crisp up. Brian and Jae make this drink that’s delicious, but way too strong to really consume responsibly, and by the time they’ve eaten dessert (Dowoon’s favourite tiramisu from the bakery three blocks down) they’re so full that even Sungjin agrees to just leave the dishes in the sink.

 

The only lights from the apartment comes from the string lights that Dowoon put up earlier and the TV as they play video games together. Jae complains whenever he loses, but lets Sungjin kiss him quiet again, and Brian sticks his cold toes under Wonpil’s thighs to distract him when they’re playing Mario Kart, which is even more annoying because Dowoon’s sitting between the two of them. Wonpil screeches, directly into Dowoon’s ear, when Brian’s cold feet make contact and Jae tosses a couch cushion at them to make them shut up. Sungjin shushes them all, insisting that getting a noise complaint from the neighbors over holidays just feels like it’d be a poor way to ring in the new year.

 

Dowoon puts his head into Wonpil’s lap, stretches himself out over the sectional. Sungjin’s hand is warm against his ankle. Wonpil cards his fingers through his hair, gently scraping his nails over his scalp. He smiles down at Dowoon, brushes his thumb over his lips before leaning down for a kiss. He tastes like cream and the coffee from dessert, and Dowoon lets out a quiet hum when Wonpil puts his hand against his cheek.

 

They break away and Wonpil tweaks Dowoon’s nose over his protests. The multi-coloured string lights reflect in Wonpil’s eyes and he looks otherworldly and sweet. He’s always had this intensity to him that makes you feel like the most important person in the universe. Wonpil always looks at them like they make the world spin round. He gives Dowoon this giant smile and even after all this time, his full attention still makes him blush.

 

“I love you.”

 

Wonpil brightens even more.

 

The commotion continues around him and it feels like home.

 

* * *

 

 

Dowoon wakes up on Christmas day with Sungjin wrapped up around him. He’s still sleeping, deep even breaths ruffling the hair on top of Dowoon’s head, and he can feel hear Brian’s quiet mumbling from Sungjin’s other side. His feet are tucked under the blankets, Dowoon always kicks the sheets off in the middle of the night, so Wonpil must already be awake and have tucked him back in.

 

“Hey,” He cracks open an eye to see Jae sitting on the other side of the bed, cup of coffee in hand. “you sleepyheads ready to go? It’s Christmas.”

 

Brian flips over and groans, shoves his face into Sungjin’s back. “Go away, the sun’s not even up yet.”

 

“Come on, Wonpil’s getting impatient.”

 

“From the state of your neck, I’d say that you distracted him pretty well.” Sungjin’s laugh rumbles through his body.

 

Jae shoves Sungjin which makes Dowoon groan and close his eyes again. “I’m with Sungjin, it’s too early.”

 

There’s the soft sound of a mug making contact with wood, then the sheets are ripped off of them. Brian doesn’t react, but Dowoon can’t help the high whine that leaves his mouth. He curls up tighter and rolls closer towards Sungjin, seeking body heat.

 

“Come on, get up or Wonpil’s going to open up all your presents too.” Jae wafts coffee smell in their direction. “I have caffeine and Wonpil made breakfast.”

 

Brian pops up from his side of the bed. “What kind of breakfast?”

 

“Boy, I don’t know, just go look yourself!”

 

Brian rolls out of bed, pulls on a hoodie, and stumbles over to the kitchen.

 

“Come on, I guess we should get going too.” Sungjin presses a kiss into Dowoon’s hair before pulling him out of bed. “I need to go supervise before they burn the whole house down.”

 

Breakfast is open faced sandwiches with an egg on top.

 

“Extra hot sauce, lactose free cheese, two pieces of bread instead of one, and scrambled instead of sunny-side up.” Wonpil says, putting the plates in front of Sungjin, Jae, Brian, and Dowoon respectively.

 

“Hey, why is my yolk cracked!” Jae complains.

 

“Because I fucked it up, obviously.” Wonpil says, taking a big enough bite of his sandwich that his teeth just breaks his own perfectly cooked yolk. “Somebody had to take it.”

 

“Why didn’t you give it to Dowoonie then? His eggs are scrambled anyway!”

 

“Because I made his first, and if you’re so unhappy with the way I make breakfast, next time you can do it!” Wonpil smacks Jae in the arm. “Besides, what does it matter, you like your eggs fully cooked anyway!”

 

“Can you two not just get it out of your system before we all wake up?” Brian asks around his mouthful of sandwich. “Your foreplay is too volatile for first thing in the morning.”

 

Neither of them say anything, but Wonpil gets this smug look on his face while a flush of red creeps up the back of Jae’s neck.

 

“Seriously?” Sungjin demands, trying his best to keep from laughing. “And you two are still like this? What the hell did you eat before we got up?”

 

Wonpil’s grin grows even wider and Sungjin groans when Brian bursts into laughter. “Don’t encourage them!”

 

“It’s not my fault this one’s insatiable!” Jae says, gesturing at Wonpil with his sandwich. “He jumped me!”

 

Wonpil raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Who was the one asking me to-”

 

“Ahhh, point made!” Jae nervously takes a gulp of his coffee.

 

“Aw, our shy hyung.” Brian goes to pinch Jae’s cheek and gets his hand batted away with a scowl. “Not like we haven’t heard it all before.”

 

Dowoon finishes his breakfast and turns to Wonpil after taking a gulp of his coffee. “Didn’t you want to open presents?”

 

“Oh!” Wonpil jams the rest of his food into his mouth and nods, gesturing for everyone else to hurry up too.

 

“We’re all done, you two were just too busy bickering to eat.” Sungjin says, wiping his mouth.

 

Everyone tears through the presents from friends and family first, Brian just sort of watches because he’s impatient and opens his presents the second that he gets them, but Dowoon passes him his present with a smile.

 

“Did you hide this?” Brian asks, tearing through the wrapping paper eagerly.

 

Dowoon nods. “I know the way you are, I wanted you to at least have one present to open with us.”

 

He holds the glittering hoops up to the light and turns to give Dowoon a kiss. “I love them. Help me put them on.”

 

“At least go clean them off first!” Dowoon laughs, pushing him away.

 

“Give me yours, we can all wear them.”

 

Sungjin had bought Dowoon a pair of studs from the same line Dowoon bought all his presents from. Everyone had put their jewellery on the second they’d opened their presents and they all look a little comical, wearing robes, pajamas, and blankets but adorned with glittering new jewellery. Sungjin carefully puts the newly cleaned studs into Dowoon’s ears and he turns this way and that, touches the still cold metal gently, feeling the leaf shape engraved into the black enamel on the front.

 

“Do they suit me?”

 

“Very well.” Sungjin says, giving his ear a flick. “I have excellent taste.”

 

“Dowoon, you have one more to open.” Brian passes him a long, thin box.

 

It’s light in his hands, the bow on top silky and cool against his skin. There’s no tag or card, just his name written on the top in Wonpil’s neat hand.

 

He turns to Wonpil in confusion. “You already got me sneakers.”

 

"It's from all of us. Open it." Wonpil urges.

 

Dowoon opens the box and almost drops it when he sees a little pink leather collar inside. He picks it up and it’s soft and well made. He knows he’s bright red, and he just can’t help feeling incredibly shy. “Uh… I mean, we’ve never really talked about this, but if you guys really want… It’s kind of small for me though…”

 

“Wait, what?” Dowoon looks up at Brian’s voice and he’s bright red. “No, that’s not what that’s for! It’s not for you! Well, it is for you, but not like that!”

 

Jae’s laughing so hard that he’s actually crying and Wonpil’s slumped over into Jae’s shoulder, wheezing and holding his stomach.

 

“We talked it over and we decided that we could get a dog together if you’d like.” Sungjin says, shoulders shaking a little too. “I know you really miss your pets at home, and I think between the five of us we’re functional enough that we could keep a puppy alive.”

 

“It’s gonna have to be a smaller one, since there isn’t enough room for anything big.” Brian says, jingling the little bell on the end of the collar.

 

“So, to be clear, Wonpil picked the collar.” Jae says, wiping the last of the tears from his eyes. “Which is why it’s a cat collar rather than a dog one.”

 

“It’s cute!” Wonpil insists, putting his head on Jae’s shoulder so he can look at Dowoon. “Can we get a girl?”

 

Dowoon nods, he doesn’t really care about the sex anyway. “Isn’t this sort of a big commitment though? Are you sure?”

 

“Yes.” Sungjin puts a hand on his knee. “We’re in it for the long haul.”

 

“I suggested the puppy in a box thing, but we thought you’d want to pick one on your own.” Wonpil adds.

 

Brian moves closer to Dowoon. “Hey, you okay? You look sort of dazed.”

 

“It’s just… a puppy.” Dowoon strokes his finger over the leather again. “You guys got me a puppy.”

 

“Dowoonie, are you crying?” Brian laughs, ruffling his hair. “You don’t have to cry, it’s okay!”

 

“You guys bought me a puppy.” He’s trying his best to wipe the tears from his eyes, but they just keep coming. “A puppy.”

 

Dowoon’s crowded by four other bodies, all wiping at his face, smothering him with kisses, ruffling his hair, and he cries even harder.

 

“I can’t believe you guys got me a dog.” He manages after he calms, wiping his nose on a tissue. “I love dogs.”

 

“Well, we love you.” Sungjin kissed his cheek. “It only seemed natural.”

 

Wonpil, loathe to be left out of anything, crawls into Dowoon’s lap and kisses the tip of his nose. Sungjin complains about the two of them being too heavy, so of course, Brian crawls on top of them, and Jae ends up sprawled on top of him, and in the end the weight of all four of them is too much and Sungjin ends up flat on his back.

 

Dowoon feels like his ribs are being crushed, and Sungjin swears that they’ve all broken something in his leg, but this is genuinely the happiest Christmas of his life.

 

(The next year’s even better.)

**Author's Note:**

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